Dempsey: AFRICOM headquarters to stay in Germany

“We think for operational reasons — unless there is a huge
(cost) disparity —operational reasons should dominate” the location debate, he said.

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AFRICOM was established in October 2008, and there has been
plenty of talk from lawmakers and others to move its location to Africa or the United States. U.S. officials have been hesitant to try to move the
command onto Africa soil due to concerns from countries there.

In 2011, U.S. Africa Command Chief Gen. Carter Ham said that
shrinking Pentagon budgets would cause him to advise him against moving its
headquarters from Germany to anywhere else.

“The money piece is perhaps more relevant,” Ham said last
year. “Right now, in this environment, it’d really have to be a compelling
reason to go back to the secretary and say, ‘We oughta spend a bunch of money
to do this.’ ”